In English:

Laajasalo – the biggest island of Helsinki and Helsinki’s 49th district in eastern Helsinki

Part 2.

Visiting Laajasalo (Degerö in Swedish) is easy. Take metro which goes to Itäkeskus or Myllypuro. Hop off at Herttoniemi subway station. Walk out of subway station and take some of these buses: 84 – Gunillankallio, 85 – Jollas , 88 and 88B – Kaitalahti and Kruunuvuorenranta, 89 – Yliskylä. There are other bus routes, but I suggest to You these routes. You can hop off anytime or at final stop. Where You decide to hop off, start walking. As soon as possible, choose a path. Everywhere on the island, there are cycling and walking paths. Selecting path, they give to You an excellent way to explore the island. Getting lost – no, because every path lead to some road and on roads there is traffic. When returning all the busses are marked…

A trip to Bulgaria

Un voyage en Bulgarie

Rick Steves’ Europe Travel Guide | Check your local public television station for this Rick Steves’ Europe episode

Bulgaria, so mysterious, has a vivid identity as a crossroads of the Balkans. We’ll trace the country’s complex history, from ancient Thracian tombs to medieval Orthodox Christian monasteries to Soviet monuments. And we’ll enjoy an intimate taste of contemporary culture: the yellow brick road of Sofia; the gregarious craftspeople of the medieval capital, Veliko Tarnovo; and the thriving pedestrian zones of cosmopolitan Plovdiv.

ricksteves.com for more information about this destination and other destinations in Europe.

In English:

Holiday in Italy – Pompeii

Some years ago, we made an organized tour to Sorrento, Italy. Why Sorrento? We knew that it was a beautiful small town. In 2016 its population was about 16609 inhabitants. Sorrento offered a nice way to make short excursions on one’s own to the nearby places like Capri, Vesuvius and Pompeii. We also visited Naples, but I did not shoot many photos from there and that is why I am not going to post any posts from there.

Although it has passed many years since our visit, it is still in our memory. Capri is an island, where You could visit once in the life time. Same words are valid also for Vesuvius and Pompeii. I could visit Pompeii once more, because I love history and it was full of awesome history.

I was taken aback when a co-worker asked me where I was born… I answered the Philippines, of course… then he said, ” I mean, on what island .?????” I thought for a minute before replying….Uhm… Luzon Island ???

I told him I’d always thought of my birthplace as a country and not an island ( if that makes sense). Well, the Philippines is comprised of 7, 641 islands ( or 7, 107 at high tide, ha ha ) , and though I find his question a bit strange, I have to admit it makes sense… After all, the former name of the Philippines was Las Islas Filipinas ( as a Spanish colony.. .. islas means islands ) , Philippine Islands ( as American colony) , Commonwealth of the Philippines, ( still American colony) , then Republic of the Philippines ( after independence)

Every so often I run across a place, and wonder to myself, how did I miss this place for so long. Cottage Bakery on Pembina Highway is one such place. I lived just off Pembina and McGillivray for the best part of nine years. I was about four blocks from Cottage Bakery and yet somehow never managed to visit. In the end, my first visit came about 15 years after I left the area, because I needed change for the bus. I simply bought a coffee to go. However, that first visit was enough to convince me that I wanted and needed to return.

The sign on the blackboard on the north wall of Cottage Bakery.

Now it is possible That I dropped in once to pick up something in a hurry, but don’t remember having done so. What’s interesting, as the sign shown above indicates, I’ve been missing a…